Could I trouble you to elaborate a bit, please? I'm shortly to either buy or not buy a Slingshot A200, largely on the basis of this thread.

And if I don't, I'll still need something to use for a trip to Australia later in the year.

The exact contents will be the K10D, two or three lenses, probably the 28-200 FA, 18-55 DA and maybe the 75-300 FAJ. Possibly a flashgun too, though that's less likely. Oh, and battery charger, SD cards etc... bits and bobs.

Lightness and convenience of access, plus something that doesn't say "camera gear, please mug me" in bright neon would also be requirements.

Delighted to hear it. Glad it worked out Ok.

I notice you're in Surrey... I had a Sigma 400mm lens repaired by a guy in Shepperton, very reasonable and quick, after Sigma themselves had told they didn't have the parts and wouldn't be able to get them.

www.cam-rep.co.uk is his web site. It's a bit amateurish looking, but I get the impression he knows more about cameras and lenses than he does about flashy marketing, which for what I want is no bad thing.

If I hold my K10D up to my ear and slowly rotate it about the lens axis, I can hear a soft thud from something moving inside. It's definitely in the body, not the lens, and it's completely repeatable. Nothing seems to be malfunctioning, and it hasn't had any impacts.

The only thing I could think of is the mechanism that allows it to know its orientation.

Can anyone confirm this?

Well I haven't taken any pictures of them yet but the list will definitely include the following:

SMC Pentax-M 1:3.5 135 mm
SMC Pentax-M 1:4 200 mm
Pentax A 1:3.5-4.5 28-80
Sigma 600mm F8 Mirror lens

I also have a Sigma 28-200 F4-5.6 that I'll probably very rarely use now (since I now have a Pentax 28-200 FA), that I ought to let go, but it's come with me on many memorable trips and given fantastic service, so I'll probably keep it for old times' sake.

I'm also in imminent danger of acquiring a Pentax 400mm prime, so its Sigma equivalent in beautiful condition, acquired recently from a forum member, should probably also find a new home.

Definitely the first four though. I'll be inspecting them carefully before I make any formal claims, but they're all in good condition, optically and cosmetically, AFAIK.

I have four, possibly five lenses that I'm planning to sell. I'll probably offer them here first, but whether here or on eBay, I want to make sure that I describe them as honestly as possible.

I've noticed many listings describe lenses as having

... no oil on the iris blades
... no fungus.

What should I look for to establish a lens' condition in these respects?

And why is the absence of oil important?

When I started with the K10 I used a 1Gb card that I'd had hanging around in an old PDA for about 2 years. No idea what the speed would be - it's not marked, and I think it predates all these supposedly super fast ones.

Anyway, having seen the prices in Jessops of the fast cards, I thought I'd test the K10D with the old card, just to see what all the fuss was about.

In continuous mode, in JPG at max quality, I got to 38 shots and it was showing no signs at all of slowing down. In RAW, it got to 8 before slowing right down.

Now, the likelihood of my needing continuous, in RAW, for more than 8 shots at a time is so nearly zero that I concluded that I'd never need to spend money on fast SD cards.

I now have a couple of standard 2 Gb Kingston cards which I alternate (long before filling them, I might add), and they're fine. They were about £10 each.

I certainly don't see the need to spend any more than that.

Less good, perhaps.

Anyway, it's the 28-200 @ 200mm; 1/500 at F9.5. Annoyingly, I had the camera at ISO 800, but there it is.

Totally agree - thank you.

I ran out of patience when I resized it down to something sensible for getting on to 1280x1024 without having to scroll. I thought it looked a bit over-sharpened too. The higher res version is a bit more subtle, but I haven't worked out how to keep that subtlety when resizing for the web yet.

I get it more or less Ok, then I remember that it needs to be resized for the screen, and the USM turns out to be as subtle as a chainsaw on a balsa wood model.

Any hints, anyone, for the right USM settngs to use for an image that's to be resized to, say, about 1/3 of the linear dimensions of the original?

(relative to what's "right" for the original, I mean...)

It's the K10D, the Pentax SMC 28-200 FA, @ 200 mm, F5.6 and 1/180, ISO 400. Hand held, SR on, no flash. A bit of cropping, a touch of levels in the green channel, and a bit of USM.